A group of MEPs have ordered the Chinese government to better obey trade rules unilaterally determined by the European Union following an official visit to the East Asian country.
A delegation from the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee landed in Beijing earlier this week for the body’s first official outing to China in eight years, with outlets close to the CCP expressing hope the visit would help smooth over recent diplomatic spats between the two powers.
Such hopes appeared to be dashed on April 2, with an official statement from the European Parliament claiming that MEPs were present in China to lecture Beijing on obeying EU trade regulations.
“It was important to come to China to meet with our counterparts and representatives of key e-commerce companies, to explain our rules in person,” German Green MEP Anna Cavazzini, who chairs IMCO, said in an official statement on the trip.
“More needs to be done to ensure companies are held accountable when rules are not followed.”
The statement in particular claimed that there are “overcapacities in Chinese production models” that have continued to cause trade issues, a common complaint from European regulators amid the bloc’s ongoing deindustrialisation as a result of its climate goals.
“We want to see rapid improvements and we want to ensure that our warnings are being taken seriously by China’s authorities and companies,” the chairwoman added.
The European write-up stands in stark contrast to that published in Chinese state media, with Communist Party-owned Global Times saying it would be an opportunity for more positive dialogue between Brussels and Beijing after a period of frosty relations.
Such a sentiment was repeated by Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning, who seemed hopeful the trip would have a positive outcome.
“We believe this visit will enhance exchange and cooperation between the two legislatures, deepen the European Parliament’s knowledge and understanding of China, and facilitate the sound and steady development of China-EU ties,” she told a press conference earlier in the week.
It is far from the first time Chinese officials have been left flat-footed when dealing with Europe.
Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the bloc has regularly given Beijing mixed messages on future relationships.
Sometimes, European leaders push for tighter relations with China to fend off the United States. French President Emmanuel Macron has led the charge for such a development, having repeatedly blasted Washington DC as trying to vassalize Europe.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has also leaned into this French approach, repeating many Macronisms during his visit to China in January of this year.
Such overtures have been received positively by Beijing, with the country keen to roll out the red carpet for any European leader willing to sing their praises amid worsening transatlantic relations.
But Macron’s scheme to woo Beijing has been largely offset by Brussels’ more militant officials, who have spent the last twelve months lashing out at China’s tech sector for not sufficiently obeying the bloc’s ever-tightening digital regulations.
European anti-dumping investigations into the Chinese solar cell sector, as well as its EV exports to Europe, have also caused uproar in Beijing, with the Communist nation having repeatedly accused Europe of engaging in protectionism with its decision to slap massive tariffs on the country’s goods.
China has not only retaliated with tariffs of its own, but has repeatedly made efforts to demean certain EU leaders in public.
Such was the case during European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Beijing in July last year, when she and other European officials were escorted off their plane by airport bus, rather than the limousine China usually uses to greet respected international leaders.